I have been "hitting a wall" lately in meditation. So far, every time a powerful nimitta comes up in my meditation I start to get excited and think something along the lines of "Here comes 1st jhana!" - which of course leads me to bounce right back from the nimitta. I know what the problem is - my excitement and anticipation, and I know the reason the nimittas arise in the first place is because of letting go of desire and craving at least temporarily.

The meditation seems to go something like this - settling into present moment, settling into silence, watching the breath, getting calmer, more mindful of the breath, calmer, more mindful, very calm, nimitta, WOOHOO!, agitation, loss of mindfulness, reminding myself to be calm, mindfulness of the breath returns, etc.

So how can I lessen the excitement, will it just be a matter of time and practice until the same habitual reactions get boring and they cease? Or is there something more to it?

Thanks,

Guy

Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return2) Throwing things away3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

That's great! The wall is there for a reason. The wall is anicca, anatta, dukkha. Don't ignore the wall. Sometimes people get walls and they don't know what to do with them. So consider yourself lucky.

Metta

Rain soddens what is kept wrapped up,But never soddens what is open;Uncover, then, what is concealed,Lest it be soddened by the rain.